Few things are more precious to humans than the air we breathe and water we drink. Unfortunately, access to clean air and water is not shared equally.

Nationally, low-income and minority communities are breathing higher concentrations of dangerous chemicals and particulates than their upper income and white counterparts. Experts say they are paying the price for it, with higher incidences of learning disabilities tied to lead exposure, respiratory ailments and chronic heart disease and cancer. While low-income and minority communities, Peoria included, suffer disproportionately from environmental pollution, time and time again we see that race plays a bigger role than class.

This is not right.

In 2012, the NAACP released a report called “Coal Blooded: Putting Profits Before People,” which found that 6 million Americans living near coal plants have an average income of $18,400, compared with $21,857 nationwide. Some 39 percent of them are people of color.

The Dynegy-owned Edwards coal plant in Bartonville should be of urgent concern to all central Illinoisans. Just last year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency determined that Peoria and Tazewell counties were home to some of the most toxic air in Illinois. That was in part due to the high levels of sulfur dioxide emissions from local coal plants. Sulfur dioxide triggers airway constriction, asthma attacks and other respiratory problems.

Pollution from the Edwards plant also greatly impacts our water. Mercury, arsenic, lead and many other heavy metals from the waste left over after coal is burned at the plant leaches into the Illinois River, where many of us get our drinking water, and where many families play and fish every summer.

Lack of access to clean air and clean water is a daily injustice for Peoria families. State officials who are tasked with protecting these basic rights have given free rein to polluters like Dynegy to call the shots about when and how it will clean up these old coal plants. As a mother and a grandmother, I can’t sit idly by and let this environmental injustice continue.

Historically, environmental racism largely has been a function of a lack of political capital. Black communities have a hard time fighting polluters. This will not be the case in Peoria. The local NAACP branch is a member of the Central Illinois Healthy Community Alliance, working to promote a vision for Peoria that does not include dirty coal power but relies instead on clean sources of electricity. By working together with our elected officials, health agencies, labor partners and community groups, I believe we can make Peoria a better place for everyone.

Ernestine Jackson is an officer with the Peoria branch of the NAACP. She lives in Peoria.